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Rita surging toward coast
Published September 21, 2005
ANGLETON — Hurricane Rita became a Category 4 storm Wednesday morning as it continued to track toward the upper to middle Texas coast, with Brazoria and Matagorda counties in the crosshairs.
Current projections have the storm making landfall on Matagorda Island between midnight and 3 a.m. Saturday as a Category 4 with sustained winds up to 145 mph. But forecasters stress even a slight northward turn would be a direct hit on Brazoria County.
Rita could bring 18-foot storm surges, even on its current track, said Bill Reed, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
“If it stays on this track, it’s going to be catastrophic for Matagorda, Jackson and Brazoria (counties),” Reed said in a 10 a.m. conference call with officials from throughout the Texas coast.
Reed said Brazoria County should use “high” Category 4 models when figuring storm surge.
Velasco Drainage District Superintendent Mel McKey conceded that scenario could top the levees, but he doesn’t believe the levees will break as they did in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit Aug. 29.
“I would expect there would be some overtopping,” McKey said.
McKey said the levees are designed to “protect us from the worst case scenario.”
An 18-foot storm surge brings water to the edges of Angleton and Danbury and floods Jones Creek and Brazoria, said Rick Perry, Brazoria County’s emergency management coordinator.
That doesn’t take into account swollen rivers, but the county might have caught a break there.
“The rivers are down now,” Perry said. “That’s working in our favor.”
Heavy rains will also add to the burden.
A high-pressure ridge over Texas that has been steering Rita to the south, and away from Brazoria County was expected to begin breaking down Wednesday, said Wendy Wong, a National Weather Service meteorologist. However, Wong said the current track into Matagorda County takes that breakdown into effect.
Radar images showed a storm the size of Texas, growing larger and with a tightening circulation. Pressure in the storm was 944 millibars. The lower the pressure, the more intense the storm. Katrina had a pressure below 900 at one point, though the storm weakened from a Category 5 to Category 4 shortly before landfall.
Perry said a traffic signal at Highway 36 and Highway 35 in West Columbia was malfunctioning and Texas Department of Transportation officials were working to fix it.
Once the storm passes, authorities will set up road blocks to keep people out until they deem it safe to return. No timeline will be set until after damage is assessed.
Michael Wright is a reporter for The Facts. Contact him at (979) 849-8581.
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